Page 46 of Born Sinner
Fighting back the emotion threatening to bubble to the surface, I glance down at the paper in my hand, silently reading the words one last time.
The ones I stole from him and twisted into a fate I must endure alone.
When the mouse strays, she gets punished. Slowly and painfully until she wins her freedom. When that time comes, the hunt is on. Catch me, and I’m yours forever.
With a soft kiss goodbye, I place the tear-stained note on the nightstand and close the door behind me, returning to the chains he shattered.
* * *
“What the hell do you mean you don’t know where he is?”
I force myself not to flinch under the lead weight of my father’s murderous stare. He’s pacing the entire length of my apartment with Santi balancing out the act by marching his heavy-footed gait in the opposite direction.
They look like two pinballs bouncing off an electric fence.
If pinballs could raze an entire city with one glance.
Valentin Carrera is one of the two most feared men in the world. Looking him in the eye with a lie on my lips is terrifying. My father loves me, but he also has the power to lock me away from civilization.
And from Sam.
“Just what I said,” I say calmly while twisting my fingers into a pretzel. “I don’t know where Sam went after I escaped,papá. He could be anywhere in the world by now.”
Hopefully, I’m right, and he stays there until this storm blows over.
At that, my brother pauses, his gaze narrowing as he turns those accusing eyes my way. “And he just let you escape? Just like that?”
“Yep,” I say, popping the “p” at the end.
“You want us to believe that SamfuckingSanders went through all the trouble to carve up your skin, only to decide you weren’t worth the gas to chase down?”
I glare back at him. “You make it sound like he had a choice.”
He lifts a dark, slanted eyebrow. “Didn’t he?”
“No! I’m not some idiot college girl who can’t fight her way out of a paper bag, Santi! I keep trying to tell you that” Folding my arms across my chest, I sink deeper into the leather cushions of my couch, adding under my breath, “You just refuse to listen.”
“Cielito, you have to understand, you are priceless to us. If anything had happened to you...” My father’s voice trails off, unable to simultaneously give voice to his fearandkeep his rage in check.
The deep love in his eyes wars with the one locked away in my heart. The one I can never speak of for risk losing it forever.
I hate lying to them. The two men shoving their hands through their dark hair, carelessly dislodging both their favored slicked back styles, while wearing out my hardwood floor, have always been my heroes.My dark knights.
But now there’s another.
And his safety trumps my loyalty.
“I know,papá,” I say softly. “And I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused Santi, and I’m sorry for worrying you so much that you had to fly here, and—”
“You didn’t do anything,cielito. Once again, the Santiagos have dared to tread on sacred ground. No man hurts my daughter and lives.”
And that is exactly why I told them the story I did. Why, after skipping town,hell, the state, with Sam, and then showing back up nearly eighteen hours later to asicarioand testosterone infused apartment, I knew I had to do some fancy tap dancing to cover both our asses.
So, I lied.
I couldn’t hide what we’d done. Not only did we leave a trail of destruction in our wake, but a neighbor saw us leave, giving the police a description of Sam’s Bugatti and his license plate. By the time we made it to Rhode Island, the sharp jaws of truth were already snapping at our necks.
So I drew first blood.
